Coupling support



E. LARSSON. v COUPLING SUPPORT.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. I9, I920.

1,401,990, Patented Jan. 3, 1922.

SI LARSSON, 0F MANSFIELD, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE @HIO BS COMPANY, OF

MANSFIELD, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF NEW KEY.

COUPLING SUPPORT.

menses.

Application filed February To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that ERNST LARSSON, a citizen of Sweden, residing at 29 WoodStreet, Mansfield, in the county of Richland and State of Ohio, hasinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Coupling Supports, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to those classes of devices known as spring drawbar carriers for flexibly supporting the coupling device and forcentering the coupling device prior to the coupling of cars, andcombines these functions by proper relation of the parts andcooperation, into" one structure.

One of the objects of my invention is for the structure, as a whole, topermit a side or lateral movement of the coupler which is advisable whentwo cars are coupled and move around curves.

Another object of my device is to maintain the coupling head in a normalor centered position with respect to the car body to which it isattached in order that two coupler heads may be automatically coupled on,a straight track or curve of moderate radius.

Another object of my device is to permit the coupling heads to move upand down relatively to the car body when in a coupled position as isadvisable when the coupled cars are passing over a break in the grade,under which condition the couplers will be moved downward relatively tothe car body if the cars are passing upward or downward at the upper endof the grade and move upwardly relatively to the car body if the car ispassing over a break of grade at the lower end of the grade, all ofwhich is a common condition met with, especially in the operation ofelectric cars operating in cities and towns.

Other objects of my invention will appear hereinafter.

For the attainment of these ends, and the accomplishment of other newand useful objects, as will ap .ear herein, this invention consists inthe eatures of novelty in the construction, combination and arrangementof the several parts generally shown in the accompanying drawings anddescribed in the specification, but more particularly pointed out in theappended cl ims,

In the drawing- I Fig. 1 shows an end elevation view of my Specificationof Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 3, 1922.. 19, 1920. Serial in. 359,894.

invention partly in section and the normal position of the device isrepresented in full lines, the arrangement of the parts when two coupledcars are passing overthe top of a hill is represented by the dottedlines and shows the action of the device as a spring carrier.

Fig. 2 shows an end elevation view of my invention in art section andshows the arrangement of the parts when the coupled cars are rounding acurve', and the couplers swing together laterally with respect to thecar body. 7

Fig. 3 'is a side elevation view of my device as represented by the endelevation view in Fig. 1 and shows th coupler head and my supportindevice in normal position by the full lines and in a depressed conditionwhen the coupled cars are passing over the top of a hill, by the dottedlines.

I will first describe the construction by which my invention is carriedout and as shown in the drawing and will later describe the operation ofthe various elements as necessary to meet "the requirements of myinvention.

In Fig. '1, 0 represents the sill of a car body usually located adjacentthe end of the car.

Numeral 1 represents a supporting casting secured to the sill by meansof the bolt and nut 2; 3 is a housing comprising the tubular portion 4and the projecting extension 5 which is provided with an opening throughwhich passes the pin 6 for supporting the housing from the supportingmemher 1 and permitting lateral relative movement of the housing 4 andthe support 1.

The support member 1 is provlded w1th depending skirt 7 which limitslateral movement of the housing 4 in either direction. Secured to thelower end of the housing is a closing member 8 and which I have shown ashaving a threaded engagement with the housing 4 although other means ofconnection can be used and which will be quite obvious. Within thehousing is a washer member 9 and secured thereto is a rod 10 having aneye attachment at the lower end. Interposed between the washer 9 and themember 8 is a spring 11 under compression and the amount of compressionupon the spring may be varied by ad'usting the relative location orposition 0 the member 8.

Secured to the lower end of the member 'and supported thereby is a yokemember 12 provided with upright members 13. The

yoke member 12 is provided with means 14 for receiving "the lower end ofthe member 10 and the ,members' 10 and '12 are secured together by thepin 15 which permits lateral movement of the parts; in; Figs. 1 and 2the coupler draw bar 16 is shown in section in its normal position whensupported by my invention.

It is usual to support the rear end of the coupler draw bar and tosecure it to the of freedom of movement of the one end of the draw barnot only vertically but horizontally also as sufficient clearance isallowed between the arts for horizontal movement. Sills C and 1 aresecured to the car body D.

It is well known that when two cars are coupled together by means ofcouplers which V the dotted lines in Fig. 1 and also in Fig. 3.

are practically rigid at their point of coupling and such cars are runover a break as in the case of the cars mounting a bill, that when thefront car passes over the hill that the couplers will be depressedrelatively to the bodies of both cars. This will bring a severe strainupon the equipment if the device supporting the couplers from the carbody is of a rigid character, but in my device the interposing of thespring between the point of support to the car body and the point ofsupport of'the draw bar or coupler {head will permit of the coupler headbeing depressed without injury to the equipment. The supportingmechanism is usually mounted in such a way as to maintain the couplersat a uniform height above the rail under normal conditions and this isindicated in Fig. 1 by the heavy lines and when the coupled cars arepassing over a break in grade as described, the coupler will depress thesupporting yoke 12 and conse quently the supporting spring 11 and thespring will then return the coupler head to its normal position afterthe cars have reached a normal stretch of track. The depressed positionof the coupler head at time of making the break in grade is indicated byAnother object of my invention is to permitt lateral movement of thecoupler head relatively to the car body as is required when the cars arerounding a curve and this is brought about by pivoting the supportinghousin 4 and member 10 to the car body and yo e 12 respectively, andsuch condition is shown by the relation of the parts in Fig. 2. Here wefind the center of the coupler head swung over to the right the distancebetween the lines A--A and A -A and likewise the lower end of the member10 and its pivotal point of attachment to the yoke 12 as swung to theright the distance between the lines BB and 13 -13 ThlS lateral'movementcan be arrested if desired by the engagement of the member 5 withthe'member 7 and the amount of lateral movement is dependent upon therelation of these two parts 5 and 7.

It is' also desirable to have the couplers maintain a normal positionrespecting the center of the car body wheniit is not coupled to anothercar in order that it will be in a position to automatically couple withanother car similarly equipped, thus avoiding the necessity of manuallyalining the couplers before they can be coupled. This condition is bestbrought about by having the couplers when not in a coupled positionmaintained on the center line of the car as indicated by the line AA.

lVith the device shown where it is pivoted to swing laterally, gravityof course would tend to bring the coupler back to normal position but itwould not prevent side swinging of the device and very often it isdesirable to couple the cars while moving and the rocking of the carswould tend to cause the couplers to swing sideways and hence out ofalinement, and to avoid this condition I utilize the spring 11 formaintaining the device together with the coupler head in a normalcentral position.

This result is brought about by having the face of the yoke 12 which isadjacent the housing 4 to bear against the lower edge of the housing 4and maintained in such contact by the pressure of the spring 11. If nowthe yoke 12 is moved to the right, the inner edge of the housing 4contacting with the yoke 12 as indicated by the numeral 20 in Fig. 2will act as a pivotal point about which the yoke 12 and the housing 1will pivot and the tension on the "spring 11 will be increased with theresult that if the yoke 12 is not maintained in the positionjust'referred to bv some external force, that the spring will cause theyoke 12 to move back to normal position with the line A --A coincidingwith the true center line A-A.

, My invention will also permit of the draw head or couplerswinginglaterally and moving downwardly simultaneously as would be the case iftwo coupled cars were passing What I claim is 1. A draw-bar carrieradapted for attachment to a car body and to allow vertical andhorizontal movement of the draw-bar relative to the car body, comprisinga pair of securing means attached to the car body, a yoke member toreceive the bar and provided with means to maintain the draw-bar in apredetermined position on the yoke, a hollow member pivotally secured toeach securing means and, depending therefrom, a supporting memberpivotally secured to each end of the yoke member and each extending intoone of the hollow members, and a spring positioned within eachhollow'member and interposed betweenv the hollow member and thesupporting member.

2. A draw-bar carrier for suspension from a car body comprising a yokemember, a pair of securing means attached to the car body, a hollowmember pivotally secured to each securing means, a supporting memberpivotally secured to each end of the yoke member and extending into thecorresponding hollow member, and a spring positioned within each hollowmember and interposed between the hollow member and the supportingmember to allow the yoke member to yield relatively to the car body.

3 A draw-bar carrier adapted for attachment to a car body and to allow avertical and a horizontal movement of the draw-bar relative to the carbody comprising apair of securing means attached to the car body, a yokemember to receive the draw-bar, a

hollow member pivotally secured to each securing means to swing in alateral direction only relative to the car body, a supporting memberpivotally secured to each end of the yoke member to swing in a lateraldirection only relative to the yoke member and extending each into oneof the hollow members, and a spring positioned within each hollow memberand interposed between the hollow member and the supporting member.

4. A draw-bar carrier comprising 1n combination securing means suspendedfrom the car body, a yokemem'ber to support the draw-bar, and acentering device provided with a surface engaging the surface of theyoke member, said .co-acting surfaces resting in the same common plane,and also pivotally attached to the securing means to permit the yokemember to move laterally of the car body, the centering device alsohaving a yielding member connected to the yoke whereby the yoke memberis returned to normal osition when moved therefrom.

5. A raw-bar carrier comprising in combination, securing means suspendedfrom the car body, a yoke member to, support the draw-bar, a centeringdevice provided with a fiat surface at one end engaging a like surfaceon the yoke member and having a pivotal connection at the other end forsuspending the centering device from the securing means, and aconnecting member for securing the yoke and centering device togetherand a spring interposed between the centering device and the connectingmember.

6. A draw-bar carrier for suspension from a car body comprisingsupporting means attached to the car body, supporting means for adraw-bar mounted to swing laterally and move vertically under stress, ayielding

